06-05-2021, 05:03 PM
(06-05-2021, 03:48 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: If the team reaches the point (Luka extended, KP money still on books) where the Mavs have no choice but to start thinking over the cap only, and there isn't a situation here better than the one that would exist had they made some of the moves people hoped for over the past two years, yes. Absolutely, we'll all look back at the past two years with disappointment.Well said. The MBT deserves this summer to get it right. It’s not easy to get guys who deserve playoff minutes. Kind of why Dragic makes so much sense
But, they didn't make some of those moves (many of us think) because they were thinking down the road and trying to keep doors to even bigger, better paths open. This was a stupid way to think back in 2011, because that was the END of something. The play there was to make it last as long as possible, with spit, glue and duct tape. But I can understand the allure of doing it at the BEGINNING of this new thing, trying to set the Luka era up as strongly as possible, and avoiding the temptation of cutting corners to start the journey more quickly in an effort to do it better and make the peak of the journey stronger.
Again, the deciding point for me will be the end of this, coming off-season. With each passing day it's more difficult to imagine what the path to something great might be, but the chapter won't be CLOSED until they have no other recourse but to go over the cap and make silly trades like they did to waste Dirk's entire career, almost. When it's done, I'll decide for myself THEN if it was successful, and not one second before.
I DON'T think Luka would've won a championship last year or this year regardless of any "sliding doors" alternate choices, so I'm not really concerned with any missed opportunities to this point, and I DON'T see a missed opportunity (that was realistic) that would've set them on a path to a future that I'm sad they missed.
We know the team has experience building a team the way they did during Dirk's era, and we know how long it takes. If we reach that point, success has to be redefined. Expectations have to be lowered.
I'm going to continue to say this: for all of the complaining around here about moves not made, players they didn't pursue, etc, the thing that's ruining everything (and I mean everything - the current team's play, Luka's future in Dallas, EVERYTHING) is the ONE and ONLY longterm commitment the team DID actually make. The Porzingis commitment was a misstep. It didn't work (or hasn't yet), and it is on the verge of slamming some doors shut that we'll all wish were still open later. In the case of that move, doing nothing would've been better. I'd rather still have the options.